Bundle separator



Oct. 6, 1964 G. D. McGooGAN 3,151,747

BUNDLE sEPARAToR 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Feb. 6, 1962 Oct. 6, 1964 G. D. McGooGAN 3,151,747

BUNDLE sEPARAToR Filed Feb. e, 1962 5 sheets-sheet 2 gaat@ i (Q1/@nim 5 l George/140600900 By /l/'sfaffomeys Oct. 6, 1964 G. D. McGooGAN 3,151,747

-BUNDLE SEPARATOR Filed Feb. 6, 1962 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 9 //APRoxA/VGLE oFREvERsAL 7 VER RIDE tz lhlll SWITCH 50 To con'rno'. cmcun Georg@ Mcoogon 5y /v/'s @fior/lays Oct. 6, 1964 G. D. McGooGAN 3,151,747

BUNDLE SEPARATOR Filed Feb. 6, 1962 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 /m/@n/Of Georg@ M6 Googan 5y his U//orneys MMM Oct. 6, 1964 G. n. McGooGAN 3,151,747

BUNDLE smmoa Filed Feb. 6, 1962 5 Shee'ts-Sheet 5 3a 32 T-i k A v ft lll " 4 mlm 1mit 4 mmm ma /m/en/or George /l//c Googan By his afforneys United States Patent 3,151,747 BUNDLE SEPARATOR George D. McGoogan, Youngstown, Ohio, assignor to Mannesmann-Meer, Inc., Youngstown, Ohio, a corporation of Pennsylvania Filed Feb. 6, 1962, Ser. No. 171,378 Claims. (Cl. 214-1) This invention relates to apparatus and method for separating a linear metallic product such as a rod, tube, wire or shape from a bundle of such products. In bar and tube mills it is frequently necessary to separate or break a bundle of linear products, i.e. which are long compared to their diameter, in order that the pieces may be fed individually, i.e. singularly, :into drawbenches, straighteners, etc. for further processing. Heretofore such bars and tubes have been so tangled and twisted that they have been disentangled from the bundle only with the help of an operative. The object of the present invention is to provide apparatus and a method of operating same which will do away with the necessity of separating the bars manually. It is characteristic of the invention that means are provided to grip one of the bars at a single point and to pull that single point clear of the bundle, then to provide a clearing device which engages the cleared point and moving away from the gripped point clears the rest of the selected length from the bundle.

Very frequently in bar and tube rolling mills, it becomes necessary to separate a bundle of tubes, bars or other linear metallic pieces so that the pieces may be fed individually, i.e. independently one at a time, into various processing machines such as drawbenches, straighteners and devices for cutting the product to length. As indicated, the product is linear in character, namely, it is quite long relative to its diameter. In the bundle the pieces may not be straight along their own axes. In fact they usually are entangled around each other so that the problem of separation is diicult particularly if the ratio of the individual product to the bundle is greater than approximately 75 to 1. As the ratio increases beyond this point, the problem of separation becomes very diiiicult and it has been common practice to make the separation manually.

In general, any attempts to construct a device to take the place of manual separation have been to separate the bundle along its entire length and to index individual bars by the same mechanism which makes contact with the product at several points for almost the entire length of the individual piece. The well known walking beam table is a typical example.

The present invention provides means for separating the pieces into individual lengths, doing it by picking up the product at one point only and using clearing device or means, after that one point has been pulled clear of the bundle, to clear the rest of the selected piece by moving away from the single gripped point.

The equipment occasionally picks up more than the one selected piece or length. In this case feelers, ie. a sensing device, are provided by which the overage can be detected and the equipment caused to release and discharge all the picked up lengths and make a new selection. This is especially advantageous in that no attendant is required and further that any damage to pinch rolls or feeding mechanism due to overload is avoided.

Patented Oct. 6, 1964 In the drawings are shown two types of apparatus and methods of separating or breaking the bundle.

FIGURES 1 to 8 show a wheel type separator and FIGURES 9 to 12 a horizontal axial type separator. By these methods of separation a piece is picked up and selected at one point and pulled clear of the bundle into a cooperative position With the pulling mechanism which completes the separation as above mentioned. By selecting a single piece from the bundle and contacting it at only one point or position, the problem of picking out more than one piece in the bundle at the same time is almost always avoided.

In the drawings,

FIGURE 1 is a plan View of a bundle separator for metal working linear metallic pieces in accordance with the invention. This embodiment is one in which the gripping means pulls the selected position on the selected piece laterally clear of the bundle and into the path of clearing means comprising a moving rake.

FIGURE 2 is a view in elevation showing the separator of the clearing means of FIGURE 1 enclosing the selected piece after it has become positioned in the hook.

FIGURE 3 is a view on enlarged scale of the hook of FIGURES l and 2 protruding from the drum before the separator locks the piece in the hook.

FIGURE 4 shows the separator after it has locked the piece in the hook by completing its enclosure.

FIGURE 5 is a view taken on the line 5-5 of FIG- URE 1 through the cylinder and rake after the selected point of the piece has been pulled clear of the bundle and into the path of the rake. The sensing device is omitted in this view.

FIGURE 6 is a detailed view of one of the arms 14 or the rake as shown in FIGURES 1 to 5.

FIGURE 7 is a view showing the sensing device of FIGURE l installed in the embodiment of FIGURE 5 at the moment when an overage is detected.

FIGURE 8 is a plan view similar to FIGURE 1 but showing the entangled overload of FIGURE 7.

FIGURE 9 is a plan view partially broken away of a dilerent embodiment of the invention, namely, a horizontal type of separator in which the selected piece, after being cleared from the bundle at the one selected point, is cleared or made independent of the bundle by being pulled lengthwise of the bundle.

FIGURE 10 is a View -in cross section of the embodiment of FIGURE 9 taken at the end of the bundle looking toward the bundle, i.e. to the right.

FIGURE 11 is a View on the line 11-11 of FIG. 9 showing the selected piece being delivered to the pinch rolls and in dot and dash lines the beam picking up the last piece in the cradle.

FIGURE 12 is a view across the machine near the discharge end looking at the machine, the view being taken on the line 12-12 of FIGURE 9.

Referring iirst to the wheel embodiment FIGURES 1 to 8, the bundle separator involves a Wheel 3 located on a shaft 4 driven by a motor drive 16, the wheel being located axially beside the bundle 1 near one end thereof.

In FIGURE 1 the wheel 3 is near the right hand end and it is at this end that the single selected point for gripping the selected piece is located. The axis of the shaft 4 is parallel to the axis of the bundle 1 to be separated.

As shown in FIGURE 5, the bundle of pieces 1 is placed in a set of sloped transport members 6. Wheel 3 is placed 3 at the lower end of the sloped transport members 6 in such a way that the circumference of the wheel 3 serves as the retainer to prevent the selected ends of the pieces vof the bundle 1 from sliding off the sloped transport members 6.

l'jrojecting from the wheel at one point, as shown in FIGURE 3, is a hook 7 of appropriate size to receive the single piece from the bundle to be separated so that when the Wheel 3 is rotated, hook 7 enters the bundle and picks up a single piece 9.

The size and contour of the hook is such that it can contain only one piece at a time.

In order that non-selected pieces from the bundle may not be dragged out of the bundle along with the selected piece 9 beyond the point of pick-up, a spring strap 13 is provided carried by the frame 5 of the machine to retain the bundle in the sloped transport members 6. To assist the hook 7 in completing the separation of the selected individual piece 9 from the' bundle 1 a tube roll-over plate 10 curved as shown in FIGURE 5 and extending for the major part of the length of the bundle, as shown in FIG-V URE 1, is provided about the same axis as the wheel. This roll-over plate 10, while it has a gap at the top center to permit a rake 14, hereinafter referred to, to move longitudinally of the bundle, extends on the side away from the transport members 6 to a series of discharge skids 11 so that whenever the selected product or piece 9 is cleared from the bundle 1 it falls on the skids and away from the bundle.

In FIGURES 1 to 7 there is a separator 12 which serves to enclose in the hook 7 the selected position on the selected piece 9. By proper design of the hook 7 the invention is able to handle products which are other than round in shape.

The hook 7 is designed as part of the gripping means to drag the selected position on the selected piece clear of the bundle 1 and to a uniform position with relation thereto in order that the clearing means device or adapted to engage the selected piece 9 near the cleared point may extract the rest of the selected piece from the bundle 1 by moving awayY from the cleared point parallel to the bundle. The clearing means in FIGURES l to 8 cornprises a rake 14 in which there is a chain 15, a sprocket wheel 17 and a drive motor 18 extending for the major part of the axial length of the bundle 1 from a point near the wheel 3. The rake proper 14 shown in FIGURES 5 and 6 comprises individual blades 20 pressed upwardly to project aboveY the tube roll-over plate 10 above referred to by tension springs 21, each tooth being individually movable. If desired, Wheels or rollers can be fitted on the beveled edges of the blade 20 where they make contact with theselected piece.

In the embodiment of FIGURES l to 8, as shown by the dotted position of the selected piece 9 in FIG. 1, Wheel 3, by turning, say, 120 beyond the pick-up point 8, has brought the selected single point of contact 2 each time to a uniform position in the path of the blade 20 as shown in'FIGURE l. The movement of the blade 20 away from the Wheel 3 toward the more distant end of the bundle, serves to pull the remainder of the selected piece 9 clear of the bundle. It will be obvious that Where a single selected point is spoken of, it does not necessarily mean that there should not be two hooks or the like closely adjacent each other, but merely that the gripping should be substantially at one point only, compared to the length of the piece. 'If an extra large bundle is in the transport members 6 it may be that the selected piece will occasionally be held down by the other pieces in the bundle and in this case an auxiliary device such as the well known walking beam can be provided'ahead of, i.e. the right as it appears in FIGURE 5, to deliver a smaller number of the pieces onto members 6 so as to avoid crowding the device.

Further with regard to the enclosure of the selected piece at the gripping position by the hook 7, the mounting and functioning of the separator 12 will now be de-r scribed. As can be seen from FIGURES 2, 3 and 4 Ithis separator 12, in the form of a plate, is pivotally carried on the circular wheel 3 by a pivot point 23 below the hook 7 as the parts appear in FIGURE 3. This plate is manipulated by a cylinder 19 and piston rod 22 therein pivotally attached to the upper end of the separator 12 and carried by the wheel 3. When fthe piston rod 22 is expelled from the cylinder 19 the separator 12 completes the enclosure of the selected piece 9 started by the hook 7 as shown in FIGURE 4, the piece being outside the periphery of the circular wheel 3. When the wheel 3 has rota-ted approximately 120 as above mentioned, the piston rod 22 is retracted into the cylinder 19 and the selected piece is ready for release to the skids 11 as soon as the rake 14 has completed extraction of the rest of the length of the piece. It might also be mentioned that in place of these gripping means a magnet can be used as the means of contact. The rotation of the wheel 3 is obtained from the driving means 16 already referred to and the cylinder 19 and piston rod 22 can be controlled from shaft 4 of the wheel.

The mechanismV heretofore described ensures that not more than one piece is engaged in the hook 7. However, in the normal ope-ration of the separating device it will occasionally occur that in removing a selected given length 9 of product from the bundle, one or more additional lengths of product may become entangled about the length of product which is to be separated, in such a manner that removal of the selected length of product becomes quite diicult. A sensing device is provided to serve to detect thepresence of such entangled lengths of product and cause the rotating Wheel 3 to reverse its direction of rotation and to reject all lengths of product before the device has completed its cycle of operation. Doing this permits the machine to detect and correct this undesirable condition without requiring a manual attendant. The sensing device is shown in FIGURES 7 and 8. In FIGURE 7 the wheel 3 is shown after it has rotated partway through its normal cycle to the point where an overload has been detected by the closing of one pair of contacts 45 and 46 as hereinafter set forth, the parts being at the position where reversal of the wheel 3 is occurring.

In these figures there are two beams 44 supported by stanchions 47 in a pivotal manner. They are maintained in a normally horizontal position by springs 48. These stanchions 47 are in turn supported on a base part 49 of the machine. Attached to the beams 44 are two electrical contacts 45. Located above the contacts 45 are a second pair of electrical contacts 46 which are maintained in a stationary position by attachment to the frame of the machine.

Contacts 45 and 46 are normally in open circuit position, i.e. separated. For this reason relay (CR) 50 is de-energized to allow forward rotation of the drive motor by energizing a motor starter 53. The star-ter has one normally open contactor interlock and one normally closed contactor interlock; thus maintaining forward rotatsim of the motor through a normally closed relay contact When either or both pairs of contacts 45 and 46 are closed by an entangled length of product as shown in FIGURE 8, relay 50 is energized, thus closing relay contact 52 and opening relay contact 51. This in turn causes reversal of the direction of rotation of the drive motor. The motor continues in a reverse direction until stopped by opening of a limit contact or switch 54, which in its operation reinitiates forward rotation of the drive motor after discharge of all product lengths including the discharge of the desired length of product 9. In -FIGURE 7 the letters F and R stand for forward and reverse.

Discharge of the two or more lengths of product occurs when separator 12 is retracted and the wheel 3 is driven in a reverse direction. When the wheel has rotated in a reverse direction till the hook 7 has proceeded to and through point 8, which is the point of pick-up, the product will again be retained by sloped transport members 6.

It is reasonable to expect that after carrying out the reject cycle, the lengths of product will not be lying on the sloped support members in precisely the same position which they had previously assumed. Thus the carrying out of a reject cycle causes movement of the several lengths of product with respect to each other so that, after reinitiation of the cycle, the device will generally function in its normal manner. If it does not, a second reject cycle may be carried out.

In using the wheel type pick up apparatus of FIGURES 1 to 8 we have shown a straight line pick up. It should be understood however that pinch rolls could be used in a similar manner.

Turning now to the embodiment of FIGURES 9 to l2, we are here concerned with what may be 4termed an horizontal type of bundle separator. In this case after selection the selected piece 9 is removed from the bundle axially.

As shown in FIGURE 10, the bundle to be separated is carried in a set of cradles 24 at spaced points along the length of the bundle and as each piece to be separated from the bundle is gripped, it is done by a pivoted separator 25 carried on a beam 26 adapted to be moved over the top of the bundle by means and in a manner hereinafter described. This beam 26 may include a V-shaped notch in a iixed plate 28 located in such a fashion that the individual length to be removed cannot be pulled out except laterally As shown in FIGURE 10, the separator 25 -is pivoted at the left end. The beam 26 has at its lower edge a hook 27, large enough to receive only a single piece. It will be seen that as the beam 26 is pulled across the top of the bundle 1, the hook 27 will grasp a selected piece 9 and drag it free of the bundle at the point of the gripping.

Turning now to the manner of mounting of the beam 26, it will be noted from figures such as FIGURE l0 that the beam is carried by a sleeve 43 pivoting about a point on a stanchion 29 located to one side of the cradle 24. By giving the sleeve 43 a pivotal mounting it is possible for the beam 26 not only to follow the changing size of the bundle as the separation proceeds but also to pull the selected position of the selected piece or product upwardly, clear and directly above the bundle and have it held there by other means hereinafter described as part of the operation of clearing the selected piece. The pivoting of the sleeve 43 on the stanchion 29 is obtained from a cylinder 30 and a piston rod 31 mounted on the frame of the machine as can be seen in FIGURE 11, the movements of the piston rod being regulated by any suitable mechanism desired. In addition to the movement of the beam 26 across the top of the bundle by means of a cylinder 32 located on the sleeve 43 and its piston rod 33 attached to beam 26 there is the pivoting of the beam 26 caused by the cylinder 30 and piston rod 31. In this way the beam 26 is pivoted upwardly about stanchion 29 to deliver the selected piece to the uniform cleared position above the bundle. The receiving means or clearing device which takes the selected piece from the beam 26 consists of pinch rolls 37, one of which is independdently driven by an actuating motor 38. One of the pair of pinch rolls 37 is adapted to be retracted from operative position by a cylinder 39 and piston rod 40 to receive the selected piece and then returned to operative position and grip it in the position shown in FIGURE 10. These rolls 37 and associated parts are on a cantilever arm 36 on the base 5. The position of the parts when the beam 26 is delivering the selected piece 9 to the pinch rolls 37 and one of the pinch rolls retracted to receive same is shown by the solid line position of the parts in FIG- URE 11. The dot and dash position of the parts in this 6 figure shows the beam 26 picking up the last piece in the bundle at the bottom of the cradle 24.

FIGURE 12 is a view taken on line 12-12 of FIGURE 9 showing the pinch rolls 37 and the trough 42 which receives the individual pieces. In FIGURE 9 to the left of the pinch rolls 37 are shown arms 41 and a trough 42 adapted to carry the selected pieces as the clearing means pulls the piece through the gripping means, thus gradually freeing the entire length of the selected piece. It will be understood that this trough is not part of the beam separator.

As shown in FIGURE 12 the trough 42 has a pivoted bottom 57 and a piston and cylinder 58 to open and close the bottom.

It should be recognized that while We have described a sensing device for overload only in connection with the embodiment of FIGURES 1 to 8, such a device can be equally well used in the beam type separator embodiment of FIGURES 9 to 12.

What is claimed is:

1. A metal Working bundle separator for long bent y-linear metallic pieces entangled together in which there are gripping means comprising a hook to engage a single twisted piece in the bundle at a single point near one end and a separator to enclose the selected point of that piece in the hook, said gripping means serving to move the single gripped position of the selected piece to a uniform position clear of the bundle, in combination with clearing means adapted to engage the selected piece near the cleared point Without disturbing the gripping means and by moving away from that point parallel to the bundle to extract the rest of the selected piece from the bundle.

2. A metal working bundle separator for long bent linear metallic pieces entangled together in which there are gripping means comprising a hook to engage a single twisted piece in the bundle at a single point near one end and a separator to enclose the selected point of that piece in the hook, said gripping means serving to move the single point of the selected piece to a uniform position laterally clear of the bundle, in combination with clearing means adapted to engage the selected piece between the cleared point and the distant end of the bundle without disturbing the gripping means and by moving toward the distant end of the bundle to clear the selected piece until independent of the bundle and axially straightened.

3. A metal working bundle separator for long bent linear metallic pieces entangled together in which there are gripping means comprising a hook to engage a single twisted piece in the bundle at a single point near one end and a separator to enclose the selected point in the hook, said gripping means serving to move the selected point to a uniform position clear of the bundle, in combination With clearing means adapted to engage the selected piece between the gripping point and the near end and to draw the piece through the gripping means; whereby the piece is made independent of the bundle.

4. A metal working bundle separator for linear metallic pieces in which there are gripping means having a hook to engage one piece in the bundle at a single position near one end of the bundle, said gripping means serving to move the selected part of the piece to a uniform position clear of the bundle, in combination with sensing means associated with the gripping means adapted to sense when one or more pieces in addition to the gripped pieces are being pulled out of the bundle and to stop the clearing of the gripped piece; whereby any overload of the machinery is avoided.

5. A metal Working bundle separator for linear metallic pieces in which there are gripping means comprising a hook to engage one piece in the bundle in a single position near one end and a rotary member carrying said hook adapted to move the gripped part of the selected piece to a uniform position laterally clear of the bundle, clearing means adapted to engagethe selected piece between the cleared position and the distant end of the bundle and by moving toward the distant end of the bundle to clear the selected piece until independent of the bundle, in combination with overload sensing means adapted to cause the gripping means after the rotary member has started to move the selected piece to reverse its movement and discharge all pieces being moved by the gripping means; whereby overload is avoided and the separator cleared to make a new selection.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Rindeisch Sept. 9, 1919 Kunath Apr. 19, 1932 Staphano Apr, 24, 1951 Dickson Sept. 20, 1955 Rutz July 28, 1959 FOREIGN PATENTS Sweden Mar. 25, 1948 

1. A METAL WORKING BUNDLE SEPARATOR FOR LONG BENT LINEAR METALLIC PIECES ENTANGLED TOGETHER IN WHICH THERE ARE GRIPPING MEANS COMPRISING A HOOK TO ENGAGE A SINGLE TWISTED PIECE IN THE BUNDLE AT A SINGLE POINT NEAR ONE END AND A SEPARATOR TO ENCLOSE THE SELECTED POINT OF THAT PIECE IN THE HOOK, SAID GRIPPING MEANS SERVING TO MOVE THE SINGLE GRIPPED POSITION OF THE SELECTED PIECE TO A UNIFORM POSITION CLEAR OF THE BUNDLE, IN COMBINATION WITH CLEARING MEANS ADAPTED TO ENGAGE THE SELECTED PIECE NEAR THE CLEARED POINT WITHOUT DISTURBING THE GRIPPING MEANS AND BY MOVING AWAY FROM THAT POINT PARALLEL TO THE BUNDLE TO EXTRACT THE REST OF THE SELECTED PIECE FROM THE BUNDLE. 